>> venezuelan president hugo chávez suffers complications from a severe lung infection after cancer surgery. ♪ >> you are watching al jazeera live from doha. deepening divisions in iraq. clamming discriminations by the shia-led government. almost a million remain homeless in the philippines. thousands of shark fins discovered on a rooftop in hong kong. controversial delicacy is

booming. ♪ less than a week before he is due to be sworn in for a second term, the latest news on venezuelan president is not encouraging. the government says hugo chávez is suffering from complications from a severe lung infection after cancer surgery in cuba of. >> under pressure for more information on the state of the nation's leader, venezuelan officials have told us more about hugo chávez's cancer. >> falling the sensitive surgery on december 11, commander hugo chávez has faced complications as a consequence of a severe lung infection which has resulted in a respiratory deficiency that requires hugo chávez to remain in strict compliance with his medical treatment. >> chávez successor has been appearing regularly assuring people the president will return.

sooner or later, we will see commander hugo chávez with us. >> chávez only named maduro the successor last month. the last time chávez spoke publicly, he was philosophical facing the possibility he might not be able to go on as president. >> my firm opinion like a full moon, and revocable, absolute, total is that it is such a scenario would force new presidential elections as mandated by the constitution you collect nicholas march 0 -- nicholas maduro. >> he went to cuba for the procedure. this was his fourth cancer operation. the use of the word "severe" suggests he is in very poor health. >> chávez may die, but not the revolution. we're all revolutionaries. >> the venezuelan president is

to be sworn in for another six- year term in another week but it looks unlikely he will be well enough for that. we still don't know what kind of cancer chávez has, and nobody knows quite where venezuela goes next if the leader of its socialist revolution dies. >> you can find out more on our website about the status of chávez's health. activists in syria say nine people have been killed in a car bombing in damascus. dozens more were wounded in what state television describes as a terrorist attack. the blast hit a neighborhood home -- which is home to many government employees. syrian army reports shelling in areas around the city.

it is believed to be the aftermath of the attack on zuma. in turkey, u.s. troops have arrived. patriot missile systems. the work was german and dutch forces after turkey asked nato for help. more than 2 million syrians, one in 10, are thought to have fled the fighting. around 1 million have gone abroad and others are an emergency camps inside syria. they do not have enough supplies as winter temperatures start to bite. more on the situation. >> waiting for the nations in the town of [indiscernible] thousands of displaced syrians have fled bombings in idlib and hamas, seeking refuge here. these clothes are not warm enough to deal with harsh winter

conditions. the food parcels are meager. it is a tragic situation. it would get for lives of all read it every four days. it is a very bad day. >> medical staff -- they are scarce. this rebel fighter needs urgent surgery. >> this is the only pharmacy in town and its shelves are empty. >> there is not a single doctor here. that is what i set up this pharmacy. we badly need a baby milk. >> most of the donations come from charities in turkey. largely insufficient are the number of those homeless keeps rising. unless turkey builds new cans or violence comes to an end soon, thousands of families may be

forced to stay in this poorly equipped camp along the border. >> agencies estimate there are hundreds of thousands of internally displaced in syria. most of them are it in areas where violence is flaring, which means they may not be able to receive assistance now when temperatures drop below freezing. >> at the seven children have been killed in a fire at a shelter for abandoned and orphaned youngsters in china. the blaze began at a privately run center. many other children have been injured. almost 1 million people remain homeless, one month after powerful storm ripped across the philippines. the typhoon killed thousands as it ripped through central and southern parts of the country. u.n. estimates that more than 6 million people have been affected by the storm, some

200,000 homes have been destroyed. at to a million people still need food aid. -- up to a million people still need food aid. >> there is still so much to clear of the typhoons devastation. in one of the worst affected areas, life for survivors is far from getting back to normal. this 45-year old has been living in the evacuation site for a month now. she says she estimate the most of the water truck visit as it does not come by every day. >> it has not been easy. it is exhausting. he of had to collect rainwater to use for cooking, and there is no word to do laundry. people are come to gather and people are falling sick. >> many of these survivors are still here. the typhoon was the first of its kind they had ever experienced. and now they are either awaiting relocation or wanting to return home to rebuild, but too afraid

the continuing rains may lead to a fresh calamity. the only ones returning here are visitors from neighboring villages who have come to see for themselves the extent of the damages the typhoon caused with flash floods that caused mud and boulders down from the surrounding mountains. it wiped away nearly the entire area. of the 300 families that lived here, only 14 families survived. other villages also remained empty. many survivors have chosen to leave and charlie and start anew with the help of relatives in nearby provinces. those with few other options have moved into camps like this one, depending on diminishing aid -- at least for now. the government hopes to be able to relocate them send. clawbacks there should be no rush. -- >> there should be no rush. the emotions of this people. while we we do relocations

[indiscernible] they do not know what to do. >> temporary shelters are only just beginning to be built while assessments are still being made as to whether not certain areas should be declared uninhabitable. the government's plan is to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. but survivors know there are no shortcuts to the team entity of the task that remains. -- to the density of the task that remains. >> general of the philippine red cross told us it takes time to reach those affected by the disaster. >> i think we're able to serve people, but because of the geographical setting, which is very wide, the affected area, at the same time there are a lot of people affected. we felt the risk -- slow.

if you look at the extent of damage and what we of done so far, fast enough to meet some of the requirements of the people, but it is very overwhelming. for many of the workers on the ground, especially the government and other ngo's. we're getting enough help so far from overseas, but since we need to come up with a long-term plan or long-term assessment of the needs on the ground, i think donors for the partners are waiting for that. at the moment, it is difficult to come up with a long-term plan because there are some things we have on the emergency phase. some in the red cross, our calculation is the emergency phase will be stretched up to six months and we will be providing food and other emergency needs up to six months. there is really nothing left there. it is the most challenging part.

now we're in the process of assessing the long-term needs of the people. as soon as we are ready with that, i am sure partners will come in and support. there are so many things left undone on the ground. we need support from all potential partners that can give us support. >> tens of thousands of people, many cities, are demonstrating against the government in iraq. that is the latest from fallujah. there was an arrest of the city finance ministers bodyguard two weeks ago. still ahead this half-hour, nigeria's black market boom and petrol. what commuters are forced to buy fuel from illegal traders. >> in paris or the government wants new buildings to go green, giving energy back to the grid and recycling your own water.

>> welcome back. we are picking up a few showers here in central africa across parts of the coastal regions. take a look at the forecast map for the next couple of days. we don't expect anything to be too heavy. lagos be just out of the rain. for parts of libya, especially coastal libya, showers. a disturbance across the mediterranean. benghazi, anywhere along these coastal areas, we expect light rain towards saturday. about 18 degrees is what we expect toward alexandria which will also be getting showers as well. cairo, a high temperature of about 20. near europe, it will be quite

messy as systems come out of the northeast. this one system making its way across central europe. another one across germany. the forecast map looks like this toward saturday. snow across parts of the alps as well as heavy rain across parts of germany. london will be mostly cloudy for you, a little warm"

>> top stories here on al jazeera, venezuela's information minister says president hugo chávez has a severe lung infection, recovering from his fourth round of cancer treatment in cuba. he is to be sworn in for another term in six days. tens of thousands of people

demonstrating against the government in iraq, largely sunnis. the protests started after the arrest of this defense ministers bodyguard two weeks ago. almost a million people remain homeless in the philippines a month after it was hit by a tie fan. more than 1000 people were killed by the powerful storm. more on the protests in iraq. we saw some pictures there of many people out on the streets. yesterday, we sought concession made by authorities with the release of 11 female prisoners. has that done anything to come down the protesters' anger? >> no, it did not. it actually inflated them more. it made them more angry. according to the organizers, the number of female prisoners or prisoners in general is about 40,000 to 50,000. 90% are silly. the government said about 920

fema prisoners held in the prisons -- female prisoners held in the prisons. the remark by the prime minister two days ago where he threatened to use force to disperse the protests, also did not go down well with them. the bands of the protesters -- demands of the protesters, there were 12 demands. it the most important is the release of female prisoners. halt the execution of all prisoners sentenced to death were charged with the death sentence. also the abortion of the anti- terrorism law, which people in the sunni area says is designed to target them. big demands from the government. these guys are not going anywhere. you are seeing the picture behind the of the protesters. they left this area, a continuing inside the city of

fallujah. in other parts of iraq, the demonstrations are continuing. >> thank you for that update. the ongoing protests in iraq. customs office in hong kong have confiscated more than a ton of elephant tusks worth $1.4 million. the first major hall of illegal ivory in as many months. the stash was found in a shipping container and hong kong. conservationists have found thousands of shark fins on the rooftop in hong kong. the popularity of shark fin soup endangering the species. many are calling for tighter regulations to protect the sharks. >> on top of this old industrial building, evidence of short killings on industrial size scale. thousands of fans laid out to dry. heavy demand over the chinese new year.

confused worker wondering what all the fuss is about and why his rooftop workplace has of the become world famous. activists say since they first came here, many of the shark fins have been removed but this one rooftops to represents and oceans for the sharks. the campaigner whose pictures first brought the rooftop to prominence says the practice has been hidden away after public outcry. >> i've seen large quantities before like we saw on the street last year. i was trying to document as fast i could. >> the claim it is not from endangered species and perfectly legal with hong kong accounting for much of the words -- world's total trades three. >> these are the views of foreigners. if they're taken the shark meat, why cannot the shark fins be used as well?

>> activists say they're winning the public-relations battle, even in chinese cities like hong kong were more and more hotels and restaurants are refusing to serve shark fin soup. for some species, any change in consumption may not come soon enough. >> we definitely could see extension of some species very soon, in the next five to 10 years. >> or evidence of an apparent indifference. residents are warned not to use the rooftop for private parties following recent complaints. the 10,000 shark fins not seen as a problem. >> policy and political faction fattal celebrating its 48th anniversary. tens of thousands of supporters are gathering in gaza city. it is their first mass rally in thousand since hamas to control of the strip -- in gaza since

hamas to control of the strip. thank you for being with us from london. some were surprised by the sheer number of fatah supporters coming out on the streets in hamas-controlled gaza. are you surprised by the volume of people? >> not at all. this has been the second time we have had special occasions. it is a time of jubilation. a lot of unity and reconciliation and exercising the very right of democratic celebration on the anniversary of the top. >> what is it that has allowed the easing of tensions with a mass that has allowed people to come out to the streets? >> you have the great news with regards to the latest war in gaza. there has been promises of reconciliation during the war and bridge the gap between hamas and fattah. i think you see a manifestation

of the promises relaid in the past. people are reflecting the mood they want reconciliation. i think at the end of the day, people of gaza will be telling the politicians it is time to reconcile and time to go for elections that will achieve consensus within the palestinian seen so the focus on ending the occupation. >> what are the steps of the leaders going to take to reflect the will of the people to enhance reconciliation efforts? >> the steps have been outlined by doha. the to the parties will have to form a government of technocrats and move immediately toward elections and in general elections that include the presidency and counsel and move in the direction of the reconstruction of gaza. it is a desperate issue and underlies the palestinians.

i think seen the people today in gaza should be a call for action, and action taken immediately and should be hindered in any way. >> many people at the moment see hamas as being strong prevent fattah, even israel affects their caribbean overthrowing of abbas in the west bank. >> i think the time for scoring points has gone. we need to focus on ending occupation. fatah can claim it has the biggest support and that's a and hamas to the same. we will be caught in a cycle of nothingness. we need to and occupation. that requires palestinian unity and reconciliation. let's see how it goes today. hopefully it will go smoothly. everything has been done in total coordination with hamas. this will be good for reconciliation and living in the direction of reconciliation.

factions have been formed at the end of the day to end occupation in not and the will of the people. >> thank you for joining us. one of the world's top oil producers, but nigeria is still struggling to meet its daily fuel needs. an investigation into the oil industry has shown corruption. >> 9 dourou's black market fuel -- nigeria is black market fuel continues. they have to buy the fuel at higher prices from the young man peddling in on the road. why this should be happening in nigeria, is a question many asks. the chief of the authority concluded an investigation into

the building sector. >> the country that produces 2.2 million barrels of crude oil a day, and people are struggling just to get the finished product for their daily use is very, very -- >> in an alarming [indiscernible] >> if we manage a very well, there'll be no need for substitute. a lot of money is being made at of the ongoing corruption. those in charge or also the contractors -- are also the contractors. >> reaching a crisis level.

thousands of barrels of oil are stolen a day. no one actually knows which numbers are correct. official records show that jara produces more than 6.5 million barrels of oil a day -- show that nigeria produces more than 6.5 million barrels of oil a day, could be higher. >> it is very possible, but nobody knows. >> others are optimistic the crisis in the well being sector can be resolved. >> i think it is an issue of solving it within one to three weeks. >> an overhaul on a tour is the corrupt building industry, an industry nigerians say keeps them poor while funneling billions of dollars to oil barons and government officials.

>> the president of sudan and south sudan are due to me shortly in the ethiopian capital. they will be negotiating unresolved will issues dating back to the civil war which ended in 2005. the ownership of the oil-rich region is still in dispute. they accuse each other of supporting rebels in their territories. rebels from the democratic republic of congo are threatening to walk out of peace talks with the government. the m23 group is demanding the president signs an official cease-fire for negotiations to continue. the two sides are holding a new round of talks on friday in uganda. the offshore oil company transocean has agreed to pay over $1 billion in fines for its role in the gulf of mexico oil spill in 2010. the company owns the deep water horizon rig which suffered a

blowout, causing one of the biggest and terminal disasters in u.s. history. the settlement includes $1 billion in civil fines, $400 million in criminal penalties. a hearing against the former haitian president aristide has been delayed until next week. he is accused of exploiting street children for political gain. police used teargas to break up supporters -- break up scuffles between supporters and opposition. algae has a remarkable properties. french designers are hoping it will help them purify water in new buildings. you could call them slime- skrapers. >> these tiny organisms could soon be turning building's green. outside and in.

he wants to breed algae in tubes on the roofs inside office blocks, starting with his own grid nourished on the impurities and taps and toilets, it will turn the waste back into pure water. his project was inspired by france's new regulations that expect buildings to recycle expect buildings to recycle their own